FWIW Robin, I'm with you 100%
I bought my 2008 4.2 a year ago, as a present to myself.
Mainly to put some fun back in my life, following ten years of deteriorating discs and all the fallout that followed.
I'm not attention seeking, but I have always liked to drive cars that are a little different.
Most weeks, driving around the locality, I get a few waves and the odd question or two at the petrol pumps.
This weekend was the North West 200 road races hereabouts and perhaps because of the general festive atmosphere and/or concentration of petrolheads, the attention the car received was completely out of the ordinary.
I couldn't stop at a petrol station or supermarket without getting into a conversation. Twice with Ghibli owners.
Lots of waves from pedestrians. I even got pulled over by a traffic branch car, whose crew just wanted to talk about Maseratis.
I actually spent most of the weekend at home, avoiding the foreign tourists driving around haphazardly.
At the end of the day, it's a completely stock, ten year old sports car. Clearly though, there is something about the sight and sound of Maseratis or maybe Granturismos in particular, that people enjoy seeing in the flesh. It's not unique by any means. But it is different.